Exception
by Aviantei
Summary: There were plenty of things Yu Kanda hated. In fact, most people were convinced of the fact that he hated everything. But, that wasn't exactly true. There was something that Kanda actually liked. Or should I say someone… AU KandaXOC
1. Hatred for Mondays

Okay, so… First official fanfiction. I had planned to post other stuff first, but I couldn't resist on this. It's an AU DGM KandaXOC. Sorry about the title, but it was all I could think of. Maybe it's good, I dunno…Warnings on language and Lavi being Lavi… Disclaimer of Honshino Katsura. Please review! ^^

**1. Hatred for Mondays**

It was a Monday morning. Kanda_ hated _Monday mornings. For all he cared, all Mondays could burn in hell, especially the mornings.

"Kanda-san!" a voice called. Kanda turned to see a girl with short brown hair headed towards him. "Good morning, Kanda-san," Ivy Minomasu greeted.

"Hey, Ivy," Kanda replied.

Now, if anyone else had told Kanda "good morning" on a Monday, he would want to know one of two things: One: What were they on? Or two: What the hell was so fucking good about it. Case in point, Kanda doesn't completely hate everything.

Now, for something he does hate.

"Yu-pon!" a voice exclaimed as the two walked into the cafeteria. This time Kanda was met with a boy sporting a large shock of red hair held up by a bandana and an eye patch over his right eye.

_Stupid rabbit._

"And the lovely Miss Ivy as well! How are you this fine morning?"

"Good morning, Lavi," Ivy greeted.

_Stupid, _stupid _rabbit._

"You came here with Kanda, I see? If he ever gives you trouble, let me know. Lavi-nii will-" Lavi's words were cut off as Kanda's fist made a first class connection with his stomach.

"Just shut up," Kanda growled.

"Nice… shot…" Lavi squeaked as he sunk down to the floor, clutching his stomach.

"Was that really necessary, Kanda-san?" Ivy asked.

"You can be a little bit too nice, Ivy. He would have gone on for two more paragraphs before you told him to shut up," Kanda explained.

"That's probably true," Ivy admitted.

"So, anyway!" Lavi exclaimed, popping up from the ground as if nothing had happened. "Come! Join us at our lovely breakfast table!" he declared, putting his arms around both Ivy and Kanda's shoulders, leading them toward a table.

"Get the hell off me!" Kanda shouted.

"Um, Lavi, shouldn't we get breakfast?" Ivy asked at the same time.

Lavi decided to turn to Kanda first.

"Tsk, tsk, Yu-pon. Such rudeness! I'm surprised Ivy puts up with it!" he exclaimed.

"Huh?" Ivy asked.

"Why you…" Kanda had a million things to say to the damn rabbit right now, but said rabbit was already talking to Ivy.

"Sorry, I almost forgot. You guys _should_ get some food. I'll see you two in a bit!"

"Sure thing," Ivy replied, smiling. Lavi returned the smile then walked away. Kanda heaved a sigh of relief. _Thank you, Ivy!_

"Well, at least he wakes you up," Ivy commented.

"Stupid rabbit," Kanda stated.

"I think he's funny," Ivy said, grabbing a plate and making her way through the line.

"How the fuck is _that _funny? He's annoying as hell," Kanda growled, doing the same.

"Oh, hush. You're just irritated cause it's a Monday."

Kanda sighed. Maybe he wasn't so pissed off at Lavi.

----------------------

"Yuuuuu-poooooon!"

Scratch that, he was.

_I swear, one day, I'll kill this stupid rabbit!_

Ivy and Kanda had retrieved their food and were heading towards their usual table. Lavi was being overzealous and waving them over. At the table were two others: a white-haired boy, Allen Walker, and a girl with her dark hair tied back in pig tails, Lenalee Lee.

Ivy and Kanda both sat down at the table. Lavi leaned in towards the group.

"Guess what?!" he exclaimed.

"What are you, some gossiping school girl?" Kanda asked. Lavi chose to ignore the insult and continued. Kanda wondered if he had even heard it.

"Well, there's a couple who's really into each other, but they won't admit it."

"Lavi, this is high school. There are millions of relationships like that," Lenalee pointed out.

"But I think we could actually _do _something for these two!" Lavi insisted.

Kanda couldn't take it anymore. He pushed his plate away from him.

"Kanda-san?" Ivy asked, concerned.

"Not… hungry…" he grumbled.

_Stupid, gossiping, nosy rabbit!_

Kanda's morning hadn't gone well. He had to spend the rest of the day in hell with the stupid rabbit, so that didn't look good. And to top it all off, it was a Monday.


	2. More Pissed Off Than Usual

**Alrighty, then chapter 2! Sorry that it's not as long as the last one, but long chapters are Main exposition and short chapters are buildup/comic relief. As usual, ?l-l34r the obvious, and I don't own the obvious. So, now that that's done with, on with the show!!! ^^ **

**2. More Pissed Off Than Usual**

Now that we've covered Kanda's likes and dislikes, let's move onto a new topic: his daily life. Wake up; school, home, homework, bed. A simple schedule, sure, but it kept him going. After all, it was the only simple thing in Kanda's otherwise complicated life.

As we were…

"See you later Kanda-san!" Ivy chimed. "And _please _try not to kill Lavi."

"Now why would I want to do that?" Kanda sarcastically asked.

"Just be careful. You seem a little more pissed off than usual."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence…"

"You know what I mean."

Kanda grunted. This was why he hated Mondays. A perfectly good weekend ruined by a day with the stupid rabbit.

Kanda should've learned a long time ago not to sign up for classes in pencil, but he had done it anyway. That had allowed Lavi to tamper with his schedule, sticking the two in the same classes. Hell of a way to spend your senior year.

To think, only a year ago Ivy had been the new girl and the science teacher, Komui, who happened to be Lenalee's crazy older brother, had forced Kanda to take Ivy as a lab partner _and_ show her around the school. Personally, Kanda blamed Komui for Lavi's constant bugging.

"Come on, Yu-pon! We need to get to class!" Lavi urged, taking a hold of Kanda's arm.

"Let go of me!" Kanda shouted in response.

Ivy gave Kanda one last smile before walking down the hall with Lenalee. Lavi blatantly ignored Kanda's protests and pulled the Japanese male in the opposite direction, Allen following close behind.

Kanda had to work hard to keep from wrapping his hands around the rabbit's neck.

More pissed off than usual, indeed.


	3. The Plotting of Lavi, Lenalee and Allen

**Note: Remember those short chapters I told you about? This is one of them. Intent for comic relief.**

**Disclaimer: D. Gray-man belongs to Hoshino Katsura, not me. The only thing I own is my OC.**

**Warning: Lavi is Lavi. ?l-l34R.**

**Advertising. Working on an Shaman King fanfic. Will be up soon. I'll let you know here.**

**Request: Please tide over until the next chapter. Things will get interesting. **

**Apologies: For making you deal with Lavi. **

**3. SSGTIK: The Plotting of Lavi, Lenalee, and Sort of Allen**

"Okay, let's get down to business," Lavi stated. He had called Allen and Lenalee over to his house. "Welcome to the first official meeting of the SSGTIK."

"The SSGTIK?" Allen and Lenalee asked at the same time.

Lavi dramatically sighed. SSGTIK stands for the Secret Society for the Get Together of Ivy and Kanda," he explained proudly. The others stared. Only Lavi could make up something like this.

"Oh, Lavi, is that what this is all about?" Lenalee asked.

"Why do _I_ need to be a part of this?" Allen complained.

"Come on, Brit! It'll be fun!" Lavi insisted.

"Lavi, you said archery would be fun. I nearly died!"

"But that was a sport. This… This is real life! Now, if we have no other reason to delay, I would like to be president. Any objections?" NO response. "Good! Now, Lenalee, you're VP. Brit, you're secretary."

"But I don't want to be secretary!" Allen objected.

"Fine, then. You can be VP; Lenalee will be secretary."

"But-"

"Excellent! Lenalee, did you bring that event schedule like I asked?"

Lenalee nodded. "Here you go," she stated, handing Lavi the paper.

"Now let's see…" Lavi scanned the list. "Perfect! The last week of November, there's a festival. We'll put our plan into action then. Sound good?"

Lenalee nodded. Allen grumbled.

"Then this meeting of the SSGTIK is now over. The next will be at Brit's house, a week from today."

"HEY!" Allen shouted.

"See you then. Dismissed!"


	4. Lavi Starts a Scene

**Note: This chapter is here because I finally looked through my reviews. Thanks for being nice everyone! wolfpup026 gets my props for being the first review. Also thank you Uzumaki and Hyuuga Girls, , and Prject Eden for telling me my fanfic is good. Partial getting things moving along in this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Hoshino Katsura.**

**Warning: Kanda's mouth and Lavi being Lavi. Oh, and Kanda's denial! **

**Advertising: That SK fanfic I talked about? I found an already typed up chapter. It is now live. Title "Aviantei"**

**Request: Check out "Aviantei" If you're interested. Oh, and don't take Lavi too seriously... Please?**

**Apologhies: The chapter's kind of short. But it's funny. Please let that make up for it...**

**4. Lavi Starts a Scene**

"So you have no feelings for her?" Lavi asked for what seemed like, and probably was, the millionth time that day.

"No, you stupid rabbit," Kanda replied for the just as equally possible millionth time the rabbit had asked him that stupid question.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm fucking sure!"

"Well, that's a relief," Lavi said, leaning back in his chair.

"What's a relief?" Kanda asked, confused.

"That you don't like her," Lavi informed.

"Why?" Kanda had a bad feeling about this. He was starting to regret saying no.

"Well…" Lavi paused for dramatic effect. "That means I can ask her out."

"You can _what?!_"

Apparently Allen wasn't expecting the revelation either.

"Huh? Don't tell me you like her, too, Brit," Lavi said, dejected.

"N-no!" Allen quickly objected. "It's just… _you,_ Lavi?"

"Yeah. Don't you normally prefer older women, anyway?" Kanda added through clenched teeth.

_Stupid, fucking rabbit, trying to get me to say that I like her. Well it's not gonna happen!_

"Well, sure, I normally prefer older women. It's just… Ivy has this certain charm. It can really change a guy's opinion," Lavi explained. He was saying exactly what he knew would get to Kanda.

_Fine, then, stupid rabbit ask her out! See if I fucking care!_


	5. Plans in Action

**Note: New chapter up! Thanks to SpidersBlood and Project Eden for being nice and giving me reviews! More advancement of plot in this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Hoshino Katsura**

**Warning: Lavi being Lavi.**

**Advertising: New chapter of "Aviantei" soon to be up. Also, if you have time, join a site called . It's fun. **

**Request: Please enjoy and Review!**

**Apologies: For a short-ish chapter. Promise I'll get better!^^**

**5. Plans in Action**

Ivy had gotten to lunch early. She had hoped to have some time to herself or maybe with Kanda. Kanda was the exception to the idiocy.

"So, Ivy, are you busy on Friday?"

Now, with the normally obnoxious redhead sitting across the table from her, that was impossible.

"Not yet. Why do you ask Lavi?" she replied, letting none of her slight irritation seep into her voice. She had figured out a long time ago that when it came to Lavi, Kanda had a hard time keeping his temper under control. She decided that if Kanda was going to be on the verge of blowing up around Lavi, she might as well be the one to play it cool.

"Well, you know about the festival this weekend, right?"

"Yeah." Of course she knew. _Everyone _knew. People made huge ordeals about it. All Ivy cared about was the fact that she got out of going to school on Friday. "What about it?"

"Well, I got passes for it. I tried to get Yu-pon to come, but he said he was busy," Lavi explained.

"He is? With what?" This time it was harder to keep the emotion out of her voice. She was disappointed. She had wanted to go with Kanda herself if it was at all possible.

"Homework, what else? I tried to get him to budge, but he wouldn't go for it. He's determined," Lavi relayed. "So, I was wondering if you wanted to go."  
Ivy frowned. Something wasn't right.

"Why not ask Allen or Lenalee to go with you?" she presented.

"The Brit's quick. He already got a date with Lenalee."

Ivy smiled at that. She always wondered when Allen would get around to asking Lenalee out. They'd be fine as long as Komui didn't find out.

_Wait a minute-_

"Lavi Bookman, are you asking me out on a date?" Ivy questioned.

Lavi presented a sheepish grin.

"Uh, well, I suppose. I mean, if that's okay with you and you're not busy on Friday."

Ivy sighed. If Kanda was really busy, that gave her nothing else to do.

"Sure, why not?"


	6. Just because YOU won't

**Note: New chapter... Thank you project Eden for being so nice! Okay, I felt bad when i wrote this... Last time Ivy got pulled into a date with Lavi... Now for Kanda's reaction! (It was coming, you knew it....)**

**Disclaimer: Hoshino Katsura**

**Advertising: Plotting a more serious DGM fanfic where I first used Ivy. Will let know when it goes up.**

**Request: Don't kill me for what happens!!!! Oh, plaese enjoy and review!!**

**Apologies: For what happens... Don't worry, it'll get better! Promise!!**

**6. "Just because **_**you**_** won't…"**

"So, was Lavi acting strange today?" Kanda asked Ivy during their free period.

"Isn't he always?" Ivy presented, setting her books on a table. Kanda sighed and did the same.

"I mean stranger than usual." He opened one of his books and started skimming its contents. Ivy was sorting through a folder and placing papers on a table.

"Lavi was just Lavi." Under no circumstances was she going to reveal her date with Lavi. She didn't even want to think about it.

"Okay."

"Why? You seem worried." A piece of paper was dictated as trash and was soon part of the contents of a nearby wastebasket.

"Two points," Kanda scored as he began to write down facts in a notebook. "It's just… He was acting extra Lavi-ish and…"

"'Lavi-ish?'" Ivy questioned, smiling. "Do you realize how close that is to 'lavish?'"

"Three points for vocabulary."

"Two points for saying 'vocabulary' instead of 'vocab.'"

"But you say 'vocab,'" Kanda pointed out.

"So?" Ivy questioned.

Kanda was about to say something else when Ivy's phone rang.

"Hold on, Kanda. Hello?"

"Hey, Ivy!" the voice on the other end chimed. It was so loud that Kanda automatically knew who it was.

"Oh, hey, Lavi."

"I was wondering what time I should pick you up tomorrow."

"Lavi, quiet, Kanda's right-" Ivy stopped when she saw the expression on Kanda's face. "Lavi, I have to go."

"So… You're the rabbit's-" Kanda started.

"It's one date, Kanda-san."

"I thought you said he wasn't acting weird!"

"He wasn't! He was just being Lavi!"

"You didn't have to say 'yes!'"

"Just because _you _won't ask me out doesn't mean other guys can't!"

The two stared at each other in silence.

"I have to go." Ivy gathered up her books and left. Kanda slumped down into his chair.

_Fuck._


	7. Friday Morning: The Beginning

**Note: New chapter!! Slight build up in this one... Thanks again to ProjectEden and wolfpup026 for their nice reviews!!**

**Disclaimer: Hoshino Katsura**

**Warning: Lavi's a dork... Just lettin' you know. Oh, and Kanda's mouth....**

**Advertising: Still working on evrything else... Oh, and I found and Excel Saga one-shot from a long time ago that will be up soon...**

**Request: Read, enjoy, review, and tide over until next chapter.**

**Apologies: For it being short....**

**7. Friday Morning: The Beginning**

Ivy's phone rang. She groaned and reached out from under her covers to her bed stand. Sluggishly, she pulled the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Good morning, Ivy!" the voice on the other end sang.

"Ah! Lavi!" Ivy exclaimed sitting up in bed. "H-how are you?"

"Good. What about you? I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"No," Ivy lied. If there was one thing she had learned, it was never show weakness to Lavi. It was like he could smell it. Well, if he wasn't distracted by whatever dessert the cafeteria was serving that day.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No." Well, there was the truth in that. Besides, hunger wasn't a weakness… Was it?

"Good. I was thinking that we could grab some breakfast before heading out," Lavi suggested.

"I'm game."

"Awesome! So, how do I get to your place?"

Kanda woke up to find himself sprawled out on his desk, the homework assignments from the previous night beneath him. He had tried to work, but every time his mind drifted back to his argument with Ivy.

He looked at the work. No way was it getting done as long as he had the fight on his mind.

Kanda reached for his cell phone and pressed four.

Lavi's cell phone rang just as he was about to leave his house.

"Hello!" he enthusiastically answered.

"Stupid rabbit, tell me when your date is and how long," the voice on the other end growled.

"Yu-pon! What a surprise! How are you?"

"Just fucking answer me."

"Well, someone's grumpy!" Lavi commented. "I was just about to leave. We're gonna get a bite to eat then head out."

"You're driving," Kanda said, half-statement, half-question.

"Yep! Why do you care so much, Yu-pon?"

"None of your fucking business." There was a pause on the line before Kanda added, "Don't crash."

"Aw, Yu-pon, you've got no faith in me!" No response came. "Yu-pon?" Lavi asked. The line was dead.

Lavi smiled and closed his phone. The plan was working.

With satisfaction, Lavi walked out the door.


	8. We've Got Him

**Note: Yes, It's short. Gomen. March is a hellish month... Thank you ProjectEden, wolfpup026, and Lathya for reviewing. **

**Disclaimer: Hoshino Katsura**

**Warning: Lavi's acting younger than he is.**

**Advertising: Okay, I was bored so I put up a random one-shot of a partial parody series "Dimension Travelers" that I have been working on with my friends. it's an FMA parody, so if you care...**

**Request: R,E, + !**

**Apologies: For the short amount of content, the long amont of time it took to pst, the even longer amont of time it will take to post the next chapter, God, I'm sounding like Piro...**

**8. "We've got Him"**

Though it felt weird to have Lavi's arm around her shoulder, Ivy was grateful for the extra warmth on the chilly autumn day.

"So, Ivy-chan, what should we do first? Food? Attractions? Rides?" Lavi suggested.

"Rides?" Ivy skeptically asked.

"Yeah, you know. Coasters? Swings? Ferris wheel?"

Ivy smiled. "Sure. That sounds fun."

"Come on! The rides await!" Lavi declared sounding like a little kid and running off.

Ivy laughed and ran after him. "Wait up!"

------------------

For some reason, spying on Lavi and Ivy's date didn't seem wrong to Kanda. Actually, it felt pretty good considering. It was his assurance that Lavi didn't do anything stupid to Ivy.

He watched as they had a conversation and then ran off

_Damn, he's taking her to the Ferris wheel!_

Skulking behind the bushes, Kanda followed.

----------------

Sitting on top of a nearby building, Lenalee watched Kanda following Lavi and Ivy through a pair of binoculars.

"Looks like things are going good," she remarked to a shivering Allen.

"Good. I think I'm getting sick." The British boy finished his complaint with a sneeze.

Ignoring the whining Allen, Lenalee pulled out her cell phone.

------------

Lavi's phone rang and he dug it out of his pocket.

"Hello."

Lenalee's voice spoke on the other end: "Lavi, we've got him."


	9. A Little Bit Closer

**Note: Alrighty folks, the month of hell is officially over. I was looking over your guy's reviews and you're all so great. I decided to put some extra effort into this one just because you're all so great. DeadlyFangs and Kunoichi-Of-Akatsuki, the update is for you. ProjectEden and wolfpup023, you're reason the chapter is longer than usual. Lathya, I tried to add some extra detail for you. Hopefully I did good. Thank you all for actually reading my stuff!^^**

**Disclaimer: Hoshino Katsura**

**Warning: Lavi's plotting schemes and Kanda's mouth.**

**Request: R, E, +R!**

**Apologies: For the time it took to get this out. I'm feelin' inspired, so hopefully the next one will be out by Monday.**

**9. A Little Bit Closer**

No sooner then Lenalee had said the words did Lavi have to resist the urge to grin. "We've got him." Really, it was the best thing he had heard all day. It meant that the entire plan was going perfectly. Feeling particularly successful, Lavi turned back to his date.

"What was that about?" said date asked, a confused expression on her face.

"Oh, nothing much," Lavi declared, dismissing the question with ease. Besides, it was time for his main role in this entire scheme. "Ivy, be perfectly honest with me. You want to be here with Yu-pon, don't you?" he poised, getting directly you the point.

"Eh?" Ivy responded, looking down.

"Do you want to be here with Yu-pon?" he restated.

"U-um, w-well…" she stammered her face now a deep shade of red.

Lavi decided to take that as a "yes."

"Because if you do, I can arrange that," he declared, reopening his phone.

Ivy's eyes widened. "W-wait! Lavi!" she protested.

Too late. Lavi had already pressed the three on his speed dial with unnecessary flourish. The line successfully connected.

_Ring… Ring…_

Suddenly, the bush behind the two began blaring a hard rock song in response. Oh, how Lavi loved the moment when a plan came together.

Ivy recognized the song. She knew it well as Kanda's "Stupid Rabbit" ring tone. Slowly, she faced the bush.

"Kanda-san?"

--

"Stupid rabbit, I am going to kill you," Kanda growled into his phone before snapping it shut and shoving it into his pocket. First, a date with Ivy, and then this? The rabbit was definitely asking for it.

Of course, Kanda also had to curse his own stupidity for leaving the phone on in the first place, at least without putting it on silent first. Not much to be done about it now, though.

"Kanda-san, please come out," Ivy's voice requested.

Kanda sighed and stood up. "Hey, Ivy."

"Kanda, what are you- I mean…" Ivy found herself unable to successfully complete a sentence. Why in the world was _she _feeling guilty? After all, it was Kanda's fault she was here in the first place. She had gone seventeen years without a conscience, why in the world was she getting one now?

In the awkward silence that followed, Ivy realized that she was at a festival. About to get on a Ferris wheel. With Kanda. And Lavi was nowhere in sight.

_Shit._

--

"Nicely performed, Lavi," Lenalee complimented of the red head that was now joining the Chinese and her British companion on top the office building they had chosen as their perch. She then returned her attention back through the binoculars to Ivy and Kanda as they entered the Ferris wheel compartment.

"Wasn't it?" Lavi excitedly replied, pulling out his own set of binoculars in order to also observe the couple. "Oi, Brit, did you bring the camera?"

Said Brit nodded and handed his friend the high-def digital camera. "Can we go home soon?" the still shivering white-haired boy asked.

"Soon, Brit, soon," Lavi answered, fixing the camera on Ivy and Kanda below. "Things are getting interesting for our favorite couple.

--

Said favorite couple was in the middle of an extremely awkward silence. The fact that they were alone inside a Ferris wheel compartment didn't really help.

Kanda directed his gaze out the window. He couldn't believe how many people actually _came_ to this goddamn thing. Of course, he couldn't believe that _he_ had come to this goddamn thing. All of this because Lavi was a moron. This couldn't be right.

"Kanda-san, why did you follow us?" Ivy quietly asked.

Kanda blinked. _Well, here goes nothing._

"Ivy-" he started.

"Please just answer the question." Kanda inwardly winced at the lack of emotion in her voice. He was suddenly reminded of an interrogation.

"I was worried, okay?" he admitted. "I didn't want him doing anything to you." _Especially just to get to me._

"Oh, why didn't you tell me that yesterday?" Ivy sounded exasperated. Kanda didn't blame her. "Why don't you just ask me out and get it over with?"

That was the million dollar question. The rate at which Ivy cut Kanda off proved he didn't have the right answer.

"Who cares what Lavi thinks?!" she challenged. "If that's your only problem, then just get it over with so we don't _have _to deal with it! I swear, Kanda, sometimes, you can be such a-" Kanda decided to cut her off his way.

Suddenly, the argument didn't matter so much anymore.

--

_Flash!_

"Woot! Perfect shot!" Lavi cheered, throwing his hands into the air. "Job well done gang!" he congratulated.

"Can we go home, now?" Allen asked.

"We can do whatever we want now, Brit."

"Good."

As the shivering male skulked away, Lavi admired his handiwork. It was moments like these that let him know it was worth it.

--

Saturday, 9:58 AM

The unmistakable sound of the Stupid Rabbit ring tone woke him up. Kanda really, _really_ didn't want to answer it, be he knew if he didn't Lavi would keep calling.

And calling.

And calling.

Reluctantly, Kanda picked up the phone.

"Good morning Yu-pon!" Lavi sang on the other line, making Kanda wish the rabbit was there so he could throttle him. "Sorry about yesterday, something came up."

_I bet. _"Get to the point, Rabbit," Kanda growled.

Lavi let out an overdramatic sigh before continuing in his usual way-too-fucking-peppy tone. "You won't believe it, Yu-pon; I've got the _best_ picture!"

Kanda had a bad feeling about this. "What picture? What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Here, let me send it to you."

Kanda's phone beeped once and he looked at the image.

Fucking rabbit, I hope you're ready to die," he threatened through clenched teeth before hanging up the phone and throwing the phone onto his bed. His thoughts drifted towards the picture. Sure, he was pissed off the rabbit for taking it, but… It had actually happened. The picture was proof enough. For both him _and _Lavi.

Kanda winced at the realization then reached for his phone. He pressed one hoping that the person on the other end would answer.

"Hello?" a half-asleep voice on the other line answered.

"Ivy?"

"Kanda!" Ivy's voice perked up instantly. "Um, what's up?"

"You know that homework I was supposed to be doing yesterday?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, due to unforeseen events, I was unable to do so. I was looking for some help…"

"So you want my… help." I was more of a statement than a question.

Kanda let a rare smile form on his lips. "I guess you could say that."

"When?"

"Whenever."

"I'll see you soon. Bye!"

"Bye."

Kanda closed his phone, for once actually satisfied with the preceding call. Putting his phone down, he fell back onto his bed.

Then, Kanda exhaled, knowing that he was a little bit closer.


	10. Reason to Kill: Lavi has a Camera

**Note: Okay, I know I said this was going to be up by Monday, but stuff came up and I couldn't get on the net. Anyway! You guys are incredible!^^ I love you all! ProjectEden, I promise that the longer chapters will stay. Sorry, ProjectEden and wolfpup023, I can't tell you if the kissed or not. Give it a few chapters, you'll know. Also, thanks to Yuuki Narumi, Lathya, and Diclonious57 for your reviews. This update is for every single one of you!^^**

**Disclaimer: Hoshino Katsura**

**Warning: A bit more of Lavi's plotting schemes and IVY'S mouth this round, folks...**

**Request: R, E, +R!**

**Apologies: For not posting when I said so. Next one out next week, unless something horrible happens to me, which it hopefully won't. Also, the slight chopiness of the textmessaging section. I've never really texted, so... Gomen!**

**10. Reason to Kill: Lavi has a Camera**

Saturday, 10:34 AM

Ivy walked up to the front door of Kanda's house, a smile on her face. Sure, she could drive, but it was a nice day, and walking seemed more… sensible After all, the apartment complex that Ivy lived in wasn't all too far away. The house that she now stood in front of wasn't completely enormous, but still pretty large with the number of floors being three. Ivy had always wondered why Tiedoll had a house this size when he was hardly there and Kanda normally confined himself to his room.

Okay, folks, no denying it; Ivy was completely and utterly excited about this. Kanda wanted to spend time with her. Just her. I'm pretty sure you realize this, but that meant no Allen, no Lenalee, and most importantly no, I repeat, _no,_ stupid rabbit. It didn't even matter to her that there was going to be homework involved. Time together was still time together.

Knowing that Kanda was most likely not to give a crap that she did so, Ivy opened the door without bothering to ring the doorbell.

"Kanda-san, I'm here!" she called out.

"Living room!" was the shouted response.

Now happily humming, Ivy made her way through the halls of Kanda's house. Many of the walls had Tiedoll's drawings hanging on them. She stopped at a particular drawing of a silver moon hanging over an ocean. It was the first of the many pictures Ivy had seen during the previous year when she had come over to work on the multiple science projects Komui had assigned. The picture still remained her favorite.

Shaking off the now growing feeling of nostalgia that was forming, Ivy continued making her way down the hallway. When she made it to the dining room, she peeked her head inside to see Kanda sitting at the end of a table that was, like the house it was located in, too big for the two people that seldom used it.

"Tiedoll out today?" she inquired, making her way to said table. _Thunk! _Her bag hit the table and she sat down across from Kanda.

"He's out on another business trip," the male informed. "I'm surprised you mage it out thus quick," he remarked.

"Hey, you're the one that invited me, so no complaints," Ivy responded, her tone light. "So, what exactly do we need to work on? I'm up to anything." She took a closer look at Kanda and frowned. "What's wrong, Kanda-san?"

"Huh?" Kanda replied, caught off guard. Ivy had the talent of saying things when they weren't expected.

"Something's bothering you, Kanda-san. I can tell. If you don't want me to notice, I'll ignore it, but… I'd feel a lot better if you told me," she said, her tone concerned. Her eyes reflected the same worried emotion.

Kanda sighed. How was he supposed to refuse, especially with her looking like that? Reluctantly, he pulled out his phone, opened up the dreaded picture, shuddered once, and then pressed send. When Ivy realized what he was doing, she retrieved her own phone out of her pocket. Upon seeing the sent photo, her face went red. If Kanda hadn't been inwardly seething at the rabbit, he might have noticed that she was cute when embarrassed.

"W-what-? I mean, how in the world-" she stammered.

"Rabbit," Kanda supplied.

"Oh." Silence. "Kanda –san, can we not worry about this right now? I mean, let's take care of this mess later," Ivy suggested. "What should we work on first?"

Kanda accepted the change of topic, but Ivy continued working things out on her mind. No, she was not one who easily forgave these sorts of things. Settling on a plan in her mind, Ivy slowly moved her phone under the table and began typing out a message.

--

Lavi's phone beeped, notifying him of the incoming text message. Seeing that the sender was Ivy, he raised an eyebrow. Already forming a theory on its contents, he opened it.

_Lavi, what the hell?!­_

A smile formed on Lavi's face. He _had _been planning to leave the two alone today. This was an invitation to get involved. He quickly typed out a reply.

_-Aw, Yu-pon showed you the picture, didn't he?_

Trying to keep the unfolding situation from Kanda, Ivy clenched her teeth instead of growling. Either way, the rabbit was dead.

_--He sent it to me._

_-Really? I knew he cared!_

_--That's not the fucking point, Rabbit._

_-Wow. You're even starting to sound like Yu-pon._

_--I'm not in the mood. Where the hell did you get it?_

_-I took it._

_--Why?_

_-To help. Trust me, you two need it._

_--Well, stop. We can handle this on our own._

_-Sure, sure. Anything else?_

_--If you plan on keeping this up I will wring (and possibly snap) your fucking neck._

While Ivy was returning her phone to her pocket, Lavi was left shuddering at her final comment. Ivy didn't get mad often, but when she did she was dead serious. Oh well, it was still an open season. Shaking off the foreboding feeling he had gotten from Ivy's message, Lavi typed up a new one.

_-Yu-pon, your girlfriend's texting threatening messages to me!!_

After reading the freshly received message, Kanda twitched once, then smirked. On the other side of the table, Ivy gave him a questioning look. He quickly displayed the screen for her to see.

"Alright, what did you tell him?" he inquired.

"Oh, nothing much…" A soft chuckle escaped her lips before she continued. "Just that if he keeps this up, I'll wring, and possibly snap, his fucking neck." The calm tone she used completely contrasted the malice of the words she was using. Kanda loved it.

"Perfect. Ten points, at least," he awarded.

Ivy smiled in appreciation. "Thanks. Now what are you going to tell him?"

"I think I have an idea…"

_--At this rate, she won't be the only one making threats._

Lavi sighed and abandoned his cell phone on a nearby table. Wonderful, now they were both mad at him.

It didn't take long for his optimistic side to kick in. At least they were mad at him together…


	11. How to Get Revenge: Dodgeball

**Notes:** Wonderful are you all!^^ Thank you to wolfpup023, Lathya, and Yuumi Nakari for your kind and wonderful reviews!^^ Well, this research paper I have was making me depressed, so I had to write a chapter of comic relief to cheer me up. Many of you are claiming "rabbit season" (duck season, fire?) and that is very true. So, as always, enjoy!^^

**Disclaimer:** Hoshino Katsura

**Warning: **Kanda's hate for mornings, said Kanda's mouth, and Lavi being subject to a dodgeball game of horror...

**11. How to Get Revenge: Dodgeball**

Wednesday, Homeroom, 7:49 AM

Ah, the pain-in-the-ass time known as morning, which, as we know, Kanda hates. True, Wednesdays weren't as bad as Mondays, but a morning is a morning. And mornings equal one way-too-fucking-bright sun, one alarm clock that won't shut the hell up, one walk a few blocks down the street to get his all-black coffee just so he could function, and one trek to school that wasn't all bad until the fucking rabbit decided to show up, spouting his nonsense the remainder of the way. In other words: hell.

Though, this week had been pleasantly calm. For some reason or the other the rabbit hadn't bothered to show up at school for the past two days. _Not _that Kanda cared. Personally, he hoped that the rabbit had died a horrible death. It was nice to actually finish a cup of coffee in silence for once.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and Kanda inwardly groaned as he saw the familiar redhead upon entering his homeroom. "Where the hell have you been?" he asked. Oh, he definitely didn't care about this. Why had he even asked that question? It was more like giving the rabbit an invitation to go on one of his rants.

However, upon seeing the Japanese, Lavi yelped. "Please don't hurt me!" he shouted, burying his head under a text book. Yeah, that was great protection against a potentially murderous Kanda.

"…" Kanda ignored the rabbit, like he should have done in the first place, and sat down. Possibly, just possibly, ignoring him would keep things quiet for just a little bit longer.

Lavi's one green eye cautiously peeked out from under the book. "You're not doing anything," he stated in disbelief. So much for that plan.

"What for? I made no threats," Kanda deadpanned. He was _really _not in the mood for the rabbit and his shit.

"So… You're not going to kill me?" Lavi warily asked, checking just to make sure.

"Not yet."

Lavi threw his arms into the air, letting out a loud cheer, leaving Kanda to wonder if the prior had heard the "yet." Not that it mattered, really. The rabbit may have escaped his fate for a few days, but he wasn't going to be able to hide forever.

This, my dear friends, was going to be good.

--

6th Period Gym, 12:05 PM

"No! Don't make me go out there!" Lavi was now shouting at the top of his lungs and clutching onto the door frame of the boy's locker room for his dear life. Surprisingly, this was not a typical scene, which brought about multiple stares from the other members of the gym class that were passing by. Poor souls.

"Why not?" Allen innocently asked. True, he was aware that his friend had taken a certain picture, but he hadn't been informed of the fact that said photo had made its way to our favorite couple.

"She'll kill me! It doesn't matter what we're doing, she'll kill me! We could be playing patty cake and she'd find a way!" Reality really is a deadly thing when it sets in.

"Rabbit, you're acting stupider than usual," Kanda stated. "You seriously can't tell me that you're afraid of a girl."

"Maybe…" Labi squeaked.

"Pathetic." The Japanese then proceeded to relentlessly pull the redhead away from the door frame and into the gym.

"Yu-pon, you're heartless!" Lavi accused, crossing his arms and pouting just like a little kid.

"Honestly, Rabbit. What's the worst that can happen?" Kanda asked, but couldn't help but smirk.

--

"Dooooodgebaaaall!!"

"'What's the worst that can happen?!' 'What's the worst that can happen?!' _That's _the worst that can happen!!" Lavi hysterically shouted, waving his arms in every which direction like the lunatic we all know he is.

"Rabbit, do me a fucking favor: Shut the hell up!" Kanda yelled, irritated. But then again, when wasn't he?

On the other side of the gym, Ivy was triumphantly cracking her knuckles, an evil smile spread across her face. "Oh, it's on, Rabbit, it's on!" she declared.

Lavi squeaked in a non-too-manly manner and hid behind Allen. "I am _so _dead. Brit, when I die, you will find my will on my desk at home. I'd like you to know that you get most of my stuff."

"Lavi, aren't you overreacting?" the white-haired boy asked of his friend.

No, my friends, Lavi was not overreacting in the slightest, for here, at Black Order High, dodgeball is utterly brutal. It's an entire forty-five minute free-for-all with no limits and no outs. Essentially, your main goal was to stay alive. With this description, the term "death ball" may seem more apt, but that was the term you used when boredom struck and you went into a corner of the gym with Lenalee and a soccer ball. Damn, that girl could kick.

Of course, there was a simple beauty to the way that dodgeball was played here, and that was that…

"I get to plow the rabbit as many times as I want!" Ivy cheered, smiling at Lavi's vain attempts to hide behind as many people as possible.

The shrill sound of the whistle pierced the air, signaling for the massacre to begin. Ivy didn't waste any time in claiming a ball and launching it towards her target. The redhead doubled over in pain as the ball collided with his stomach and let out a weak "Ouch…"

"Lavi, look out!" Allen warned.

Lavi slowly looked up. "Oh, no."

Ivy's newest missile was quickly heading straight towards his head.

--

"Ow! Lenalee, that hurts!" Lavi whined. After the dodgeball match, he was definitely equipped with his fair share of scrapes and bruises, and had been hauled to the nurse's office by the passing by Lenalee that was now taking care him since the nurse was tending to some other mauled kid. I told you that it was brutal.

"Whatever reason Ivy decided to pummel you was probably your fault," Lenalee chided, taking on hr normal role as the voice of reason.

"Come on, Lenalee, you know that it was just a picture," Lavi insisted.

"Oh, did you show it to them?" the Chinese girl concernedly asked.

"I sent it to Yu-pon; he must have shown Ivy."

Lenalee heavily sighed. "And there en lies your problem."

There was a knock and the two looked to see Ivy standing up against the doorframe.

"The pain is horrible! I can't take it anymore! Please don't hurt me!" Lavi begged, going into fetal position.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Geez, Rabbit, knock it off. I'm only here because I want to tell you something important, so you better listen up." She paused to make sure that he was listening and then continued. "You see, that was me going easy on you. If you ever do anything like that again, it _will_ be worse. _Much_ worse." She smirked and headed towards the door. "Later!"

Lavi shuddered once and then turned back to Lenalee.

"Commodore, we have work to do."

"I knew you would say that, Colonel."


	12. Brits Give Good Advice

**Notes: **The research paper of hell is done! I feel so relieved, I had to write an extra special long chapter! I can't guarantee the same length of future chapters, but I promise they will continue to be their usual length. Why else is this chapter such a length? All of you, of course!^^ Yuuki Narumi, wolfpup026, Project Eden, Deadly Fangs, maskedmoonwalker, and Seengot are the reasons for my amazing amount of 40 fucking reviews. I thank you all so much! ALso, I felt bad for doing a fanfic about a series and not involving the main character that much. So, this chapter involves our loveable Brit, Allen! So, I proudly give you the next chapter of Exception!!^^

**Disclaimer: **Hoshino Katsura.

**Warning: **Lavi sing and being a pervert. Also, Kanda's language.

**12. Brits Give Good Advice**

Thursday, 4:35 PM, the Park

"What do I do?" Ivy wondered out loud. The Japanese girl had wandered aimlessly to the park after school. Why? Because she was stressed. And when Ivy Minomasu becomes stressed, she wanders. Why was she stressed? Because now that Lavi had been punished, somehow things between her and Kanda had been different. Not bad different, but simply different nonetheless.

"We're back to the way we were," she began again, starting to pace. "We're friends, but it's different. Of course it's different, we…" She stopped as her face slightly flushed. Shaking off the feeling, she changed her topic.

"And Lavi. Kanda sees him as annoying as hell; I seriously doubt that that will ever change. I personally find him funny. Except for that whole picture thing…" A frown formed across her face. You try to avoid a topic and simply end up trapped again.

"Ugh, never mind. In all honesty, the reason that things are different is because we're closer. I suppose you could say tat we're more… intimate…? No…" Ivy shook her head before pushing the brown bangs out of her face. As she slumped down onto a nearby bench, a hand ran through the short cut. Why didn't any of this seem right? Either that, or it was right and she was in stress-induced denial. Either way, her relationship with Kanda was quickly becoming one big fucking mess.

"But if it is right…" Ivy began again, staring out at the large park with its typical trees and fountain, a play ground at the far end. Despite it being December, the area was still crowded. "…how in the world am I supposed to let Kanda-san know that?" she posed.

"I personally see two things you can do," a voice behind commented, causing the Japanese girl to jump. She turned, brown eyes blinking upon seeing who the person was. It was none other than Allen, leaning casually against the back of the bench.

"A-Allen? What are you doing here?" Ivy cautiously asked, wondering exactly how much of her spiel the British boy had heard.

"Well, you want advice, right? I'll try my best," he answered with his usual smile.

Ivy let a small smile of her own form. "Alright, then. Thanks, Brit."

"You want to let Kanda know that you feel closer to him, right?" Allen enquired, walking to the other side of the bench and sitting down. The girl next to him nodded. "Have you ever thought about calling him by his first name?"

"Eh? His first name?" Ivy nervously started, her face quickly going red. "Have you seen what happens whenever the rabbit-"

The white-haired boy simply shook his head to cut her off. "Come now, Ivy there's two main differences here. For one"–he put up a finger to emphasize his point-"you're not Lavi. And two"-a second finger joined the first-"As far as I can tell from Lavi's ramblings, the stubborn jackass known as Yu Kanda actually _likes_ you."

"Yes, but…" Ivy quietly began, looking down.

"Honestly, you'll be fine," Allen insisted, giving an encouraging smile. "As for my other piece of advice, it's quite simple: Don't think about it so much."

This time, Ivy's calm slipped away. "How the hell do you expect me to do that?!" she exclaimed. "I can't help but think about it- about _him_ the bastard! As a matter of fact, ever since the rabbit stuck his nose where it absolutely did and does _not_ belong, I can't _stop_ thinking about it." Finally calming down, Ivy didn't even care that she had just told that to Allen. Unlike Lavi, he wasn't likely to use that fact against her.

"I understand that, but what I'm saying is that by you thinking too much about it, you become oblivious to just how close the two of you are," the British calmly explained. "Stop worrying so much and maybe it'll help."

Slumping down in her seat on the bench, Ivy began to think it over. In comparison to Lavi's off-color remarks and wacky plans, Allen wasn't that bad for someone siphoning off relationship advice. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, Brit, you and Kanda-san-" She paused at the look she was receiving from Allen. "Do I have to?"

"If you can't say it to me, I can guarantee you that you won't be able to say it to him."

Ivy let out a small sigh. "All right, you and Yu-kun don't exactly get along. So why are you helping me out with him?" she posed.

Allen chuckled. "Just because I don't particularly like Kanda, doesn't mean I don't like you. Besides, he's easier to deal with when you're around." He smiled and Ivy laughed.

"You think so?"

"Most definitely."

"Thanks, Brit. You're surprisingly good at this. No wonder you got a date with Lena." Ivy stood up and stretched, reaching for the sky. "I'm gonna head home now. Thanks again, Brit. I'll see you tomorrow." She then wandered off, leaving a blushing Allen at the bench. Eventually, he broke out of his daze.

"Wait!" he shouted after the Japanese girl. "Who did you say I had a date with?! What are you talking about?!" It didn't take long for him to figure it out. He knew how the bastard worked, after all. Grey eyes narrowed.

"Lavi."

--

Friday, 2:42 PM, School

"Oi! Yu-pon!"

_Oh, what now?_

"Yu-pon! Yuuuuuu-poooon!"

_Why me?_

Kanda sighed, wondering why out of all the people in the world that could have decided to be his friend; it had to have been this idiot that had done it first. Now, he couldn't even leave his last period class- which, of mother fucking course, he had with the rabbit- without some sort of interruption from the obnoxious redhead. If Ivy was allowed to maul Lavi in a dodgeball match over a picture, then surely Kanda was allowed to punch him in the face for being annoying. At least once, right?

"Okay, Rabbit, what the hell do you want?" the taller male growled, giving Lavi a nasty glare that would have probably made some people we themselves. Too bad the idiot's skull was too thick to feel fear.

"Now that Ivy-chan's done with her assault, I can return to my mission!" said idiot proudly declared, giving a thumbs-up. Kanda swore he saw rabbit ears sprouting from the psycho's head.

"Did you just call her '-chan'?" the Japanese skeptically asked. Punching him was sounding a better idea by the second, particularly now.

Ignoring the question, Lavi enthusiastically continued his rant. "I know things are going good, but I think you should try to impress her. Now, what would work?" he mused, tapping his chin. Kanda was considering leaving before the redhead snapped his fingers. "I got it! Yu-pon, how do you feel about singing?"

Kanda blankly stared at the shorter male. Oh, why hadn't he just left when he had had the perfect opportunity?

"I knew you'd love it! Now, it's all about choosing the right song…"

"I have absolutely no desire to find out what _you _consider the right song," Kanda deadpanned, irritated. He just wanted to go home and close himself off from the world- or at least most of it- for the next two days. Was that too much to ask? Wait, it was the rabbit. Of course it was too much to ask.

"She likes eighties stuff, right? You could always use my favorite!" Why was he so oblivious? "_If you want my-_" Lavi's singing was cut off as Kanda clamped his hand over the other's mouth.

"Rabbit… Shut the fuck up." He enjoyed the rare silence before removing his hand.

Lavi's one green eye blinked. "Aw, Yu-pon's shy!" he exclaimed, positively beaming in a way that would rival the sun. Kanda didn't like that look at all. "What else could you sing?" The redhead paused to think before breaking out into an Italian Bistro.

Kanda returned to his desk, hoping that something would happen to stop the idiot before he was forced to kill him. Yu Kanda may have hated Lavi, but he being responsible for the rabbit's corpse on school property wasn't exactly on the top of his to-do list.

--

"Yu-kun, are you okay?"

The voice caused Kanda to blink, snapping him out of his self-educed daze. He hadn't really wanted to waste minutes on doing nothing, but Lavi had showed no signs of him leave, and he _had_ to ignore the rabbit _somehow_. Otherwise, he would go insane, which surprisingly hadn't happened after the years of their friendship.

"Yu-kun…?" The voice spoke again, and Kanda looked up at the person standing in front of his desk.

"Oh, hey, Ivy," he greeted, feeling slightly calmer. "What was it again?"

"I asked if you were okay," the female replied in a slightly concerned tone.

"Lavi's singing; what do you think?" he muttered, causing the Japanese girl to laugh. In that moment, it hit him. "Did you just-"

"Aw, Ivy-chan just called Yu-pon by his first name!" Lavi exclaimed, answering the unfinished question. "Atta girl!" He playfully punched Ivy's arm.

"Uh, I…" she started, looking down as a light shade of red passed over her face.

Kanda propped his elbows on the desk and rested his chin on his hands. "Well, did you?" he questioned, smirking.

Ivy determinedly nodded. "Yes, I did."

Lavi let a satisfied smile cross his face. "Well, I can see where this is going. I'll talk to you two later!" He then went to leave the room, but stopped at the doorway. "Don't forget to practice safe sex," he commented with a smirk. Finally leaving, he resumed his earlier Bistro.

"Shall I give him the black eye, or do you want to do it?" Kanda asked, glaring at the spot where his friend had previously been standing.

"I was thinking something more painful, but we can deal with that later," Ivy commented. "Uh… You don't mind, do you?"

"Mind what?" the male replied, standing up from his seat and picking up the pile of books off of it.

"Me calling you by your first name."

"No, why?" Kanda expectantly raised an eyebrow.

Ivy sighed. "It's just…" She paused, biting the inside of her cheek. She had already had this conversation with Allen. She was _not_ Lavi, and Kanda liked her. That had already been proven. The only thing that was stopping her was herself.

"It's just…?" the taller of the two prompted. Damn that four inch difference.

"Oh, it's nothing," she recovered, dismissing the topic at the same time. "So, what are you doing to night?"

"Homework." Like she hadn't seen that answer coming from a mile away.

"Hell of a way to spend a Friday night," she teased, tossing him a playful smile.

"I suppose. But it goes faster if there are three people at it."

Ivy blinked. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? "You want me to come over?" she asked, disbelief touching the edges of her voice.

"Sure. Assuming you don't have any dates planned." Kanda finished the comment with a smirk. Ivy smiled in response. Yu Kanda, for some reason or another, was the only person she wouldn't automatically smack for a comment like that. "What do you say?"

"I dunno," she mused in a light tone. "Brit and I have been talking a lot lately."

"With your sarcastic nature, I'm choosing to take that as a 'yes.' Meet up out front in a few minutes?" he asked.

"Sure thing!" Ivy's smile grew bigger. "See you in a bit, Yu-kun!"

Not particularly caring about anything else, Ivy broke off into a straight forward run down the hallway that led to her locker. Upon reaching said locker, she didn't hesitate to get her bag together and sling it over her shoulder.

"So, how'd it go?" a familiar voice enquired.

Still smiling, Ivy closed her locker's door. "It went good Brit," she informed. "It went good." She then raced back down the hallway, leaving Allen leaning against the lockers, a smile on his face.


	13. SSGTIK: Holiday Plotting

**Notes:** Yes, I know, I haven't updated since, what April, but I'm here now, right? Now that summer's over and school's here, I should be able to focus more on my fanfcition... What, shouldn't that be the other way around? Regardless... I would like to give my overdue thanks toDeadly Fangs, ProjectEden, wolfpup026, and Lathya for revieving ages ago. ProjectEden, i will toy with the idea of a Lavi segment sooner or later. Also, I will apologize for taking so long. Promise the next one will be up MUCH quicker. I now bring you an SSGTIK chapter, with a flashback, and a few snide hints at Lenallen. So gang, here we go!

**Disclaimer:** Hoshino katsura

**Warning: **Lavi's plotting and the horrors of his garage. You have been warned.

**13. SSGTIK: Holiday Plotting**

Saturday, Lavi's Garage, 12:07 PM

Allen sunk into the couch inside Lavi's garage, wondering why he was even there in the first place. Yeah, the garage wasn't exactly the most refined place in the world. Among the furniture occupying the space were the said couch, a few musty arm chairs, and a normally off-balance pool table. All of these weren't in prime condition, and you had to wonder exactly where Lavi had gotten them. Allen had always held the suspicion that they had mysteriously disappeared from their previous owners before heading on their way to the dumpster, no matter how seemingly sincerely Lavi had vouched that all had been obtained by the fair transaction of money, and at a good price, too. Allen didn't even want to conceive the possibility of Lavi having connections on the Black Market.

Other than the possibly suspiciously acquired furniture, the garage contained numerous boxes and bags from practically every restaurant in town, mainly those that sold pizza and Chinese take-out. Thankfully, all of these had been cleared out of their contents, so there weren't any mice. Of course, if you were someone like Lavi, having a mouse would be considered "cool," and the poor creature would most likely then be recruited as either a pet or a mascot.

So, if this garage is a seemingly miserable place, complete with a funny smell that seems familiar, but you just can't place it, and the couch he has sitting on sub-par, then why was our Brit even there in the first place? This question can be simply answered via flash back.

--

Friday, Black Order High, 1:32 PM

Allen had been going between classes and was grateful that his next period was a study hall. Midterms were the next week, and you could feel the deadline approaching, mainly due to the fact that the teachers weren't cutting any slack. Well, maybe Komui was, but that was only because Lenalee happened to be in that class. Not that it bothered Allen in the slightest. The partial leniency was well appreciated.

Ah, yes, Lenalee. That was a newly added and unexpected part of his stress level. After all, from what Ivy had seemingly alluded to the previous afternoon, he had no choice but to theorize that Lavi had happened to say something stupid. Not that a fact like that was surprising, but this time it concerned Allen. And Lenalee. On a _date_. In fact, the Brit was experiencing one of his few vengeful streaks, and if he didn't receive a good explanation from Lavi as to _why_ such a thing had been suggested in the first place, he would be more than happy to help Ivy in her next tirade against the redhead.

"BRIIIIIIT!!"

Allen looked up at the sound of his nickname to see exactly what he had been suspecting: the only person who would abandon all common sense (presuming this individual even had any in the first place) and shout it at the top of his lungs across a hallway. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Lavi.

_Speak of the devil._

The rabbit had now broken out into an unrelenting run, somehow managing to keep up his speed while dodging between the large numbers of students currently accumulated in the hall.

"Hi-Brit-here-you-go-bye!"

Somehow, Lavi had let out the sentence in one breath, shoved a piece of paper into Allen's arms, nearly toppling the stack of books he was carrying, and kept his run up to race further down the hall with the same reckless abandon. Allen fumbled, wondering what the hell had just happened, and tried to regain his balance so he could make it to his class on time. When he did arrive, the Brit sat his belongings on a desk and picked up the paper that Lavi had forced upon him. Heaving a heavy sigh, he unfolded it. This is what he found:

**ATTENTION ALL SSGTIK MEMBERS:**

**A MEETING WILL BE HELD TOMORROW AT NOON IN SSGTIK PRESIDENT LAVI'S GARAGE. FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED**

--

Now sitting in said garage, Allen crumpled up the flyer and added it to one of the preexisting piles of trash on the ground. From what I've told you, it really couldn't hurt.

"Allen, I know the place is already the mess, but you don't need to make it worse. Who knows when Lavi will decide to clean this place again?" Lenalee commented from one of the chairs.

"Yeah, and who knows when he'll decide to show up?" Allen grudgingly muttered. "I mean, who invites people to their house and then is _late_?" The white-haired boy wasn't even sure why he had come at all. Besides, it was obvious that he could accomplish more in one simple conversation than Lavi could in all his plans combined. That and he still had to study for his midterms.

_BAM!_

The side door that connected the house to the garage flew open and Lavi stood there, holding pizza boxes with unnecessary flourish.

"Incoming! Cover up anything you don't want seen!" A typical comment from Lavi. Allen had heard a million of then over the years since he had moved here and knew they didn't mean anything. So why did this seem different?

"Okay, gang, pizza all around!" Lavi declared. "Two larges with everything for Allen, a mall pepperoni for Lenalee, and one medium sausage, black olive, and cheddar cheese for me!" After distributing the boxes, he hopped up onto the pool table and pounded his fist against it, the movement of the table apparently not bothering him in the slightest. "I now call this meeting of the SSGTIK to order!"

"So, what exactly is this meeting for?" Lenalee asked before taking a bite out of her first slice of pizza.

"I'm glad you asked Secretary Lee." Lavi was having way too much fun with this, no joke. "As we all well know, winter break is starting soon and we have two very important events within that time."

"Christmas and New Years?" Allen questioned after swallowing the final remnants of his pizza.

"Very good, Vice President Walker. If we fully utilize these two events, the SSGTIK will be ever closer to their ultimate goal."

"So what are we gonna do?"

Lavi flashed a devilish grim that obviously meant trouble. "Easy. We're going to give Yu-pon _exactly_ what he wants for Christmas."

--

After hours of extensive and highly detailed planning, when Allen finally made it home and collapsed on his bed, he decided that if he failed an exam and Cross showed up, the only thing that would keep him from killing Lavi would be the fact that he had paid for the pizza.


	14. All I Want Is

**Notes:** Okay gang, told ya this one would be up much quicker than the last one! ^^ I wanna thank Lathya and wolfpup023 for reviewing. I know it's overdue, but I made a few hits at the point system in here, and hopefully I'll get some more chances in the next chapter. This chapter I have worked on practically _everywhere_ that I could in order to create and refine it. And I do mean every where: at home, on the bus, in study hall, my Spanish class, my grandma's, the library, and even McDonald's. (I was drinking a mocha and typing on a laptop, how weird is that?) Yes, not even one of the largest fast food franchises in America could keep me from continuing to work on this chapter. So, this is the Christmas chapter (man, I am SO out of tune with the seasons…) and I hope you all enjoy. I tried making it excellent and set it through five separate grueling edits (If you saw the marks over me first draft…) For the record, Kanda's views on music aren't my own, but they share similarities. Also _I'm_ the one who has a ceramic frog in the garden that holds my house key, so that's where that came from. By the way, this is the longest chapter of Exception yet, so I hope you enjoy and review! And not expect the rest of the chapters to be this long… Enough with my ranting! On with it!

**Disclaimer:** Hoshino Katsura (must… get… DGM… volume 14…)

**Warnings:** Ivy's mouth, the horrors of Lavi's house, Lavi's stupidity, Kanda's mouth, Kanda's inhospitality, Kanda's hatred for parties and popular music, the implications of Lavi singing and dancing to "his song," Lavi's stupid plans, and _slight_ OOCness.

**14. "All I want is…"**

Ivy slowly woke up from a rare full night's sleep, actually feeling refreshed for once. Weekends and vacation days really were the best times to catch some Z's, and having those kept her from only being able to properly function with the excessive use of coffee. She had the suspicion that Kanda was annoyed because he started of his mornings with the stuff. Ivy's eyes trailed over to the alarm clock that had mostly been rendered useless over the past few days, except to view the time, which she was doing now. Ah, the crack of noon, definitely the best time to wake up, no doubt.

Ivy let out a yawn and stretched her arms above her head before actually leaving the bed to get dressed. Figuring that she'd be spending the majority of the day lounging around, as she had spent the past parts of her vacation, the Japanese girl simply slipped into a pair of sweatpants and along sleeved t-shirt. Screw fashion, no matter _what_ Lenalee thought, comfort was definately the priority.

While Ivy went to leave the apartment's bedroom and head for the kitchen, she looked back to the clock, this time to check the date. And that made her stop cold.

"Shit!" she whispered.

December 25th. Was that really the date? Ivy couldn't believe it. Surely break had only been going on for just a few days, and not nearly an entire week. But when she thought it through, the numbers added up.

"Shit!" she repeated, this time louder.

Dismissing her quest for breakfast, Ivy began to shift through the mess that had accumulated on the floor, all the while trying to remember where she had put her cell phone. Now let me make it clear that Ivy is mostly a neat person. However, when she has multiple idle hours at her disposal, the books, notebooks, papers, CDs, and other miscellaneous items that are normally organized spill out of their respective places and afterwards take up residence on the ground.

After about a minute of digging through said mess, Ivy found her phone exactly where she had left it a week ago: plugged into the wall, charging, and turned off so she wouldn't have to deal with the rest of the world. She unceremoniously tore it away from the wall, sat down on her bed, flipped the device open, and shoved down the power button.

Ivy knew that she needed to talk to Kanda soon. It had nothing to do with the fact that she hadn't talked to him, fuck the rest of the world, for a week. It was simply the fact that it was Christmas and she wanted to see him.

The phone beeped to life and Ivy was about to press one for her speed dial when it hit her.

"Fuck." The cuss word dropped out of her mouth with ease.

Again, Ivy reminded herself that it was _Christmas_. And she hadn't gotten him a damn thing.

In fact, she hadn't gotten a thing for _any_ of her friends. Not that the rest really mattered at the moment. Then again, Kanda probably didn't even _want_ anything, let alone expect it. But for some reason, it still felt like she should.

At that moment, the phone rang, causing Ivy to jump and lose her train of thought. She nervously waited for the caller ID to kick in, surprisingly praying to whatever god or gods there might be that it _wasn't_ Kanda. She may have needed to talk to him, but not right now. She wouldn't be able to take it at the moment.

When the number finally appeared after what seemed like an eternity, Ivy sighed in relief and calmly answered.

"Hey, Lenalee."

"Hey, Ivy!" the Chinese girl cheerily replied on the other end. "Lavi's throwing a Christmas party at his place-"

"A Christmas party," Ivy dully and skeptically stated in a deadpan tone, even though it was a rather predictable action for Lavi. Maybe if she had stopped and taken her nose out of a book for a few moments, she would have seen it coming.

"Yeah, we would've told you sooner, but your phone was off. Anyway, we were decorating and we could use the help." Ivy took "we" to mean Lenalee, Lavi, and Allen. There was no way they could have convinced Kanda to help with such a thing. "You don't mind, do you?" If Ivy had been talking to Lenalee in person, the latter would have put on a pleading expression, complete with sparkly eyes that made her seem chibi. The Japanese had seen the Chinese employ it many times before.

"Of course not," Ivy automatically answered. You never said 'no' to Lenalee, especially when she asked like _that_, not even if you were Kanda. Horrible things would happen if you did, mostly by Komui's actions.

"Thanks a bunch!" Lenalee practically gushed. "Do you want one of us to come and get you?"

"Nah, I'll drive myself."

"Be careful, it looks like it's flurrying out there."

Ivy ventured over to the window and pulled open the curtains to see that her friend's words were true. "Don't worry, I'll make a slushy. You guys want some?"

Lenalee giggled. "See you soon."

"See ya."

--

Anyone else would have probably wondered exactly _why_ it was going to take nearly seven hours to set up for a mere party. However, Ivy knew better and had been able to concentrate her efforts on the road during the drive over, which was probably for the best, and when she finally walked into Lavi's house, surprise wasn't present in the slightest. The entire first room was filled with piles upon piles of books, all varying in terms of height and level of discord. If you were able to find a clear spot to look past them all with, a rare discovery, you would have been able to see that the walls were made of bookshelves packed to the brim, thus why those books on the floor were in their present location. However, for the first time since Ivy had moved here, the first section of the floor appeared to be clear, and the absent books were now stacked up against the wall.

Why were there so many books here in the first place? Lavi's guardian, Bookman, or, if you were Lavi, 'Gramps' or 'Old Panda,' depending on his mood, was an avid collector of books and was known for going out on long trips to search for new pieces to add to his collection, which he was doing now, sending a large amount home every other week via FedEx or some other poor delivery service. The UPS man practically refused to make deliveries to the place any more and no one could blame him. Lavi himself, while mainly acting like an idiot, was actually quite an intellectual and enjoyed reading, would then read all of the newly acquired books, and then toss them into their current disorganized state.

"Oi! Ivy-chan! You're here!"

The rabbit's voice drifted over to where Ivy was standing, and she could see him perched at the top of a tall ladder, adding a few more books onto those already lined up against the wall. Below him, Allen was climbing down said ladder, supposedly to collect more books from Lenalee. Lavi simply jumped off the ladder, complete with mid-air summersault, and surprisingly landed on his feet. Ivy guessed all his bones were still intact since she hadn't heard anything snap and had to admit she felt moderately disappointed.

"Good thing, too," Lavi continued, "now this can go a lot faster."

"Lavi, never do that again!" Allen told off his friend in a panicked tone as he reached the ground. "You nearly took my head off!"

"Ah, but I didn't, did I?" the redhead said in a tone like a mother scolding their child, wagging his finger in a similar manner. "That should be what matters." Allen rolled his eyes at his friend's antics and Lenalee giggled.

"Um, we're not throwing the party in here, are we?" Ivy questioned, walking up to her friends.

"Nope, it's gonna be in the next room," Lenalee informed. "However, we thought it would be nice if people could actually just walk in, minus all the strategic maneuvers." You could tell she was politely holding back the part about sustaining injuries.

"Alright then!" Lavi enthusiastically declared, ignoring the obvious prodding at his house keeping skills. "I'll head back up top, Brit, you bring that pile to me, and Ivy-chan, you can help Lenalee with collecting books and carrying them over. Let's make this quick so we can move on to the fun stuff!" With that, the redhead proceeded to clamor up the ladder with predictable reckless abandon.

Lenalee sighed. "Well, that's Lavi for you," she remarked. "Let's head over that way, alright?" The Chinese girl practically skipped off.

Ivy allowed herself to let out a laugh. "And that's Lenalee for you. Well, we better get started, Brit."

"He's planning something stupid, you know," Allen warned.

"Cheh. Of course he is." And not even feeling remotely worried, Ivy followed the path Lenalee had carved into the sea of books.

--

7:09 PM

Kanda was going to fucking kill the rabbit. Why? Because, somehow, Lavi had dragged him into coming to a Christmas party. And not just _any _Christmas party, oh no. It was the _rabbit's_ Christmas party, which could only mean that Lavi was up to something stupid, and the night wasn't going to end well. _Especially _for the rabbit if Kanda got a hold of him.

So, how exactly did Lavi get Kanda to show up? Allow me to take you on another strange journey to the magical world of flashbacks.

--

"How the fuck did you get into my house?"

That was the first thing Kanda asked as Lavi entered his room. He also wanted to know why the stupid rabbit had came in the first place, not to mention completely ignore the very blatant sign hanging of the door that read "**NO**" in large, bold, capitol letters. Surely the brain capacity to understand it was _somewhere _in that thick skull.

"With my super secret ninja skills!" the redhead declared, chopping his hand through the air, probably reducing a stack of imaginary cinderblocks to dust. Kanda assumed that by 'ninja skills,' the rabbit meant hiking the spare key out of the stupid ceramic frog Tiedol had placed in the garden. He was going to have to relocate that thing to a safer location, possibly the roof. Kanda took great pleasure as he imagined Lavi falling from three stories up, screaming his lungs out.

"Why the hell are you here?" Kanda growled. He wanted to get back to spending his Christmas _alone_. Well, mostly alone, if Ivy would just turn on her damn phone…

"I'm having a Christmas p-"

"_No,_" Kanda deadpanned, not even allowing the rabbit to finish his sentence. No way in _hell_ was he going to another party where Lavi was, especially not after what had happened _last _time. Those were some _seriously_ bad memories and Kanda could hardly even _look_ at a noisemaker again, let alone touch one. Not that he would touch one anyway, unless using one to cause physical pain; damn, those things were annoying.

"But, Yu-pon, you _have _to come!" Lavi combined his whine with a pout. He was definitely a five-year-old at heart.

"Give me _one_ good reason." Kanda was getting ready to chunk the rabbit out the window. The Japanese had, never has, never will have, absolutely no patience for this shit.

"Ivy-chan," Lavi triumphantly stated, a victorious smile appearing on his face.

"Do you mean that as in 'she's already there and Lenalee's making sure she won't leave,' or as in 'Lenalee's coercing her to come now and there's no way she'll refuse'?" Kanda didn't like how this situation was playing out.

"Hmm…" The shorter of the two paused for dramatic effect. "The first one."

_Fuck._

Reluctantly, and _way_ against his better judgment, Kanda snagged his coat of a chair and made his way to Lavi's car.

--

Now here we are with Kanda, at a party he hates. Well, he hates all parties, but that's not the point. Not only was the room crowded with people, which is bad enough as it is, some of those people were fan girls, and we all know the horrors of that. Luckily for the male, none of them noticed him since they were all focusing on dancing to the music blaring over a set of speakers that looked like Lavi had dragged them out of the deepest corners of his basement. Forget the fan girls and Lavi's garage; that place was filled with more horrors then both of them combined.

Now, Kanda did like his music blaring, but that was only if it was something _decent_, i.e. rock or metal, as well as the occasional alternate tune. Hell, he would even settle for something from the 80's or 90's if he was in the right mood. But _nothing_, I repeat, abso-fucking-lutely _nothing_, would _ever_ make Kanda like what his school considered to be "popular" music. Not with all the kooky pop noise and the retards that created rap. Fuck no, that was the kind of shit that made him want to repeatedly stab at his ears with a few dull pencils. So, of _course_ that was exactly what was playing right now.

The music changed rhythms. Hearing the opening bars to "Can't Touch Me," Kanda shuddered once and retreated to a corner of the room.

There was absolutely no way the rabbit was making it to the New Year.

--

Lavi watched as Kanda skulked into a corner, not even feeling remotely worried for his plan.

"Tsk, tsk, Yu-pon," he commented to himself, "you are _so_ predictable."

Then he ran to the middle of the dance floor, a shit-eating grin on his face, completely psyched up about the back flip he was going to perform. This _was_ his song, after all.

--

Ivy had been partially thrown off when she noticed Kanda standing in a corner. No, it wasn't that he was in a corner; that was just what Kanda did at events like these. It was that he was even here in the first place. She vaguely wondered what stupid thing Lavi had said to get him here. Nevertheless, she was glad for his presence.

"Hey, Yu-kun," Ivy greeted, approaching the male and settling herself against the wall perpendicular to the one he was leaning on.

"Hey, Ivy," Kanda grumbled, sounding annoyed, even though Ivy could tell that he was trying. Hey, at least it was a start.

"How're you doing?"

"What do you think?"

"Ah, yes," Ivy mused, "it's a party; it's the rabbit's; and they keep playing nothing but all the shit you can't fucking stand." The female finished her analysis with a laugh. "Look on the bright side, Yu-kun: at least you've got me."

Kanda smirked. "That's right," he remarked, "you're immune to the stuff. I'd say that's worth about three points."

"Yu-kun, you make it sound like a disease!" Ivy scolded, laughing. "Even so, I think I deserve more if it's that horrible, but I'll give you two points cause I'm nice." She paused, remembering the earlier issue. Her voice became quieter. "Oh, yeah, I wanna apologize: I completely forgot about getting you something for Christmas."

"Cheh, don't worry about it." The male easily shoved away the problem. "I didn't get you a thing, either. So, sorry, I suppose."

Ivy smiled, feeling relieved. "Right, even," she agreed. "Besides, all I want is…" Her voice faded out once more and she wondered whether or not to finish that sentence. Oh, what the fuck, she had nothing to loose.

"All I want is-!"

"Wow, Ivy-chan, Yu-pon! You two lucked out!" Lavi seemed to appear out of nowhere, spouting out his usual nonsense. On top of that, he seemed drunk, almost like when he had attempted to spike the punch, except this time it had actually worked.

Ivy sighed, already exasperated with whatever the rabbit was planning. "What the hell are you talking about, Lavi?!" she shouted.

"Look up."

It was a simple command, but for some reason, those two words sounded like a death sentence. Knowing that she would probably regret it, Ivy did as she was told. Upon seeing what her friend meant, she groaned.

"You know what mistletoe means!" the redhead practically sang, a Cheshire Cat-esque grin spreading across his face. Yeah, that spiked punch suspicion was _definitely _rising.

"Goddammit, Lavi, go fu-" Ivy was unable to finish the insult due to Kanda's lips pressing against her own. Her heart rate automatically sped up.

"Yu-kun…?"

Somehow, Lavi's smile was able to grow even wider. "_Ivy-chan and Yu-pon, sitting in a tree-!_" he happily sang.

Ivy's voice turned into a growl. "Leave." That one word, coupled with her glare, which plainly said "I _will _kill you in a slow, painful, horrifiic, gruesome manner," automatically made Lavi freeze. Then, like the rabbit he was, he ran. "Stupid rabbit," Ivy grumbled, her face now turning a light shade of red.

"Sorry about that." Kanda's voice made Ivy focus. Yu Kanda apologizing? That was something you didn't hear everyday, especially not twice.

"Eh? Oh, right. It's fine. I get it. It's the only way he would have left us alone," she nervously rambled. As expected in situations like these, the next stage was an awkward silence.

"So… You were saying earlier?" Kanda eventually prompted, trying to resume conversation.

"Oh. That." The color on the girl's face slightly deepened. "It's nothing."

"Feh," the male skeptically remarked.

"But, um, Yu-kun, are you doing anything for New Year's?" Ivy softly questioned.

"Hn. I haven't thought about it." Kanda paused momentarily. "But… If you want to come over… you're welcome to it."

Ivy mentally giggled. Was it just her or did Kanda actually seem embarrassed? She could have sworn the male was blushing. Yet another first. "I'd love to," she accepted, smiling. Surprisingly, Kanda smiled back. If Lavi hadn't of left, he would've dubbed it a Christmas miracle if he'd stuck around.

It seemed that the rabbit was going to make it to the New Year after all. Now, whether he would survive that… Well, that was an issue that would later take on some debate.


	15. Moments of Peace

**Exception 15**

**Notes: **_~Ladies and gentlemen! This is a jazzy fizzle! It's done! It's done! The update is here! Exception! ~ _I haven't heard that song in a long time, but I found it quotable for this (if you don't know the song, don't worry)…Alright, I won't make that many excuses for the 10 month absence. 1: I'm lazy. 2: I had writer's block. There, done. But one minute I was digging through old stuff for something I needed for my 4-H project, the next I went to eat a sandwich, and then my brain burst out of its block as to give me the beginning of this chapter, and after almost eleven hours, I was done. Thanks to Lathya, wolfpup026, and Soulless Ghosty for you reviews. Also thanks to people who subscribe for updates, too. I love you all. I am _so_ happy about this. I know it's nowhere near the epic as chapter 14, which makes me sad because there's BIG DEVELOPMENT, but who cares. I like it. And we get to have some fun with my _way_ out of seasonal tune New Year's chapter! So after a long wait, I give you Exception 15!

**Another Note:** Updates for all my fics will be based on my personal inspiration, my friend's writing patterns (mental deal of me writing something for when she writes), and the poll I'll be posting on my profile. So if you want me to update something, go vote for it.

**Disclaimer:** Ivy and this fucked up AU are mine. _That Girl_ (XD, you'll see) is Kaitlyn Burlingame's (one of my awesome buddies, that asked that I use her OC). All other patrons of the _D. Gray-man_ universe belong to Katsura Hoshino.

**Warnings: **Not many. Pretty tame chapter actually. Just a few bits of Kanda's mouth and Lavi's child-like behavior involved this round.

**15. Moments of Peace**

The apocalypse was surely happening. And no, this isn't that "end of the year" hype or anything. But the apocalypse was still going on, and that was for one very simple reason: It was New Year's Eve.

Let me rephrase that. It was New Year's Eve.

And Lavi was behaving himself.

No joke, everyone's favorite (?) red-headed rabbit had decided to take a day off from his usual SSGTIK related antics, and just chill out on a couch with pop, snacks, and a few good buddies, i.e., Allen and Lenalee. And why weren't Ivy and Kanda involved in this lovely get-together? A few reasons actually.

A: Lavi had used his super ninja skills to stick around after supposedly being scared off on Christmas and knew the couple was getting together and he didn't want to screw it up when the universe was working just the way he wanted it to.

B: Ivy had turned her phone back off and didn't even seem to be checking her voicemail.

C: Kanda was blatantly ignoring Lavi's calls, and _his_ voicemail was equipped with a particularly nasty and detailed message about how he would castrate anybody who even attempted to infiltrate his house again, with an extra beating if that infiltration occurred before school started up again since he was in such a "giving mood."

D: Lavi enjoys confusing the hell out of the universe and giving Kanda a false sense of security.

And so our nighttime adventure begins.

As said, Lavi was chilling out on a couch with his fellow conspirators, sans all the conspiring. Of course there wasn't any conspiring, because this wasn't the Couch of Horrors in Lavi's garage. This was a much nicer, leather couch that was very big, very squishy and located in Lavi's living room. And as you should know, there is no conspiring on any other couch than the one in Lavi's garage. At least, that's what Lavi decided about ten seconds after sitting down.

But anyway.

The coffee table was a nice one, too, also large, with a glass top, and positively overloaded with snacks. Additionally, if one were to go into the kitchen, they would find just as much food, along with various caffeinated, yet non-alcoholic drinks. Because Lavi knows his Brit. And his Brit likes to eat.

So Allen was stuffing his face with as much food as he could cram into his mouth at once, Lenalee was sipping at a neon green plastic cup filled with fizzy orange liquid, and Lavi was leaning back on his couch, hands behind head, smirk on his face, and brightly colored party hat strapped to his head as the trio stared down the New Year's broadcast showing on the high-definition, wide-screen television.

And only 10 minutes until midnight, too.

In the wonderful House of Kanda, there are actually 7 living rooms, the smallest being the one adjoined to Kanda's bedroom, located on the second floor. It has a similar paint scheme to said teen's room, and has two perpendicular navy blue couches facing a small TV set, with a black trunk serving as a table.

Light coming from the television screen, assisted by a small lamp turned on in the background, illuminated the trunk top. On it sat one glass halfway filled with water, a dark blue mug that had once contained multiple servings of coffee (black, of course), a half-eaten bag of Baked Lay's, and the television remote. On the couch parallel to the trunk sat Ivy and Kanda, watching the same broadcast as their friends on the other side of town.

In a sense, it was awkward, because after their unexpected kiss on the previous holiday, the couple didn't know exactly how to treat each other. Actually, it was more of an "Ivy being too shy and Kanda not having any reason to act without prompting by the Rabbit" situation. See folks? Lavi is actually _useful_. But being more focused, this resulted in the two sitting on adjacent couch cushions without touching each other or even saying much. Yes, if only Lavi could see this now… How he would cry over his hopeful wishes for progress going unfulfilled.

Now if you thought I was going to tell you that during his previous break-in, Lavi had oh-so cleverly placed cameras in our wonderful Kanda's house and was actually watching at this very moment, you can stop right there. Because at the point of the break in, he thought he was going to have to drag Ivy and Kanda to his house to get anything to happen. And he just doesn't plan that far ahead. Lavi is more of a "go with the flow" kind of man.

Now we should stop discussing this. Don't want to give him any ideas.

"Three minutes to midnight! _Three minutes to midnight!_" Lavi excitedly chanted, bouncing up and down on the couch, making both Allen and Lenalee duck in cover. Because we all know that Lavi is a little kid at heart. And right now that little kid just happened to be coming out like this was its first New Year's ever, and it was finally allowed to stay up at night.

"Man, the year went by so fast," Lenalee wistfully remarked after the redhead sat back down. On the TV, the announcer shouted into his microphone the minutes left to the crowd gathered in the plaza of some big city. They all elatedly cheered as prompted, and the announcer went to recheck the countdown.

"I'll say," Allen agreed. Polite as always, the Brit left out that a good amount of the year had been spent on Lavi's plans. He didn't even want to think about what all was coming next.

"You two make it sound like the world's ending!" Lavi exclaimed, draping his arms around his friends' shoulders. "We still have the rest of the school year left! And besides, I've been cooking up some plans that none of us will ever forget!" The rabbit seemed totally oblivious to Allen as he shuddered at the thought. "Oh! Oh! The countdown's starting! The countdown's starting!" The redhead jumped back up to stand on the couch and pumped his fist into the air.

"_Five!"_

Lenalee laughed at her friend's antics and joined him in calling out the numbers. So did Allen.

"_Four! Three! Two! ONE!"_

"Happy New Year…" Ivy muttered under her breath as Kanda said nothing. The Japanese male simply continued staring at the television. The announcer continued shouting out that it was a New Year, building up hype about what may happen. Throughout his spiel, the camera panned across the crowd, pausing on couples kissing each other, and giving a prolonged stop as a man proposed to his girlfriend.

Kanda reached for the remote and slammed down as much as one could on the power button. The set blinked out as Kanda resumed his position on the couch, the images on the screen nagging in the back of his brain.

But what did he have to lose?

_What the hell…_

"Hey, Ivy," he said, causing the girl to turn her head towards him with a slight "Hm?" Kanda smirked and kissed her, thoroughly enjoying himself without the otherwise present rabbit to interrupt or instigate afterwards. When he was done, Ivy stared back up at him, her blush barely visible in the dim light.

"Yu Kanda, was that your way of asking me out?" she asked, a slight smirk of her own forming. Of course, the smirk ended up turning into a grin, because she was so damn happy at the moment.

"What do you want it to mean?"

Ivy's grin grew even wider. "I think that was you asking me out."

"Ten points for reading my mind. So what's your answer?" Kanda felt odd acting like this, especially without the Rabbit to encourage it, but at least he was getting what he wanted. At least, he hoped he was getting what he wanted.

"What do you want it to be?" Ivy asked in response, still grinning, almost feeling drunk off her elated mood.

"'Fuck yes,'" Kanda mumbled before going to kiss her again.

"All right! Who wants some celebratory drinks?" Lavi happily asked of his two friends. Both provided responses in the affirmative, so Lavi gathered the plastic cups and headed into the kitchen. Halfway throughout refilling the glasses with bubbling liquid, his phone vibrated in his pocket. With the finesse of a showy bartender even though no one could see him (just cause he is _that_ cool), Lavi topped off Allen's drink, and spun the cap back onto the bottle before digging his hand into his pocket to retrieve the device.

"Hello, you've reached the super-awesome Lavi. Wazzup?"

"_Nii-chan!"_ The voice was youthful, and excited, and feminine, and of the devil. Lavi froze in the middle of his kitchen.

"L… Lil' Sis…?" he fearfully asked, not even wanting to think about the girl on the other end. Because he could see her now, grinning happily and ready to send her brother through hell in a single phone call with zero effort.

"_Nii-chan, it is you! Guess what? I'm coming ho—!"_

Lavi hadn't bothered with ending the call. He hadn't bothered with powering down his phone safely. Because in his desperation to kill the connection and avoid hearing from _that girl_ again at all costs, Lavi had simply ripped the battery from the back of the phone and shoved it into the nearby silverware drawer, which he promptly slammed shut with a loud crash and much jangling of the items inside.

With a trembling hand, Lavi tried to resume pouring drinks like the phone call had never happened, only to have her last cut-off sentence replay in his head, except in a completed form. _"I'm coming home," _she had said.

It really _was_ the end of the world.

On the other side of the city, on a navy blue couch, unaware of her friend's peril, Ivy slept soundly on Kanda's shoulder.

After a few minutes of watching, he set out to join her.


	16. Death in Snowy Combat!

**Exception 16**

**Notes:** Aw, man, I take way too much time on the updates, and really, I'm sorry. Well, this is technically another pick on Lavi chapter, but it has a little plot movement, and a lot about Ari… So yea. And what's this? Another OC pairing? Maybe, just maybe… But anyway, when I do get to the next chapter (um, vote please so I know you want me to) I'm thinking I may get to that Lavi chapter I got asked to do a while ago. And well I do have some ideas of what to do, your suggestions would rock (as said Lavi chapter is one, and well… spring gym will be fun) so I know what you wanna see, especially for this Lavi chapter concept… Um, I will try not to take too long on the next, but no promises… My newly arrived D. Gray-man season one DVD set really got me in the mood, so… Thanks to those who reviewed last time, Blood-red Moonlight and Lathya, and please keep 'em comin', cause we actually got 50 reviews on this thing~! ^^ Well, enough of me, enjoy the show~!

**Disclaimer:** You know I don't own stuff! Just Ivy and Ari's Kate's~! And this AU. The rest of D. Gray-man belongs to Hoshino Katsura~!

**Warning:** Um… Nothing too bad, just picking on Lavi, a bit of some mouth from people, Kanda's usual irritation towards Lavi, and snow. Lots of it.

**16. Death in Snowy Combat**

"Nii—chan—you—bastard—wake—_up!_"

Each word of that particular morning greeting had been accompanied by a smack of a pillow to Lavi's person, the last being a particularly forceful blow to his head. The voice, despite its commanding and insulting intentions, was still in sweet female tones, letting our redhead know that when he had seen his sister make her way into the house a few days ago, he unfortunately had not been dreaming. Not wanting to risk removing his head from the weak protections of his poorly thought out blanket shield, Lavi trusted his instincts and shot a hand to the night stand. Fortunately, his ninja skills procured his cell phone.

"But, Sis," he whined, voice muffled due to his mouth being halfway submersed in pillow, "it's only ten on a snow day. See, Brit even sent me a reminder text so I wouldn't show up." Lavi sat up to show the message to his sister, grinning at the memory from the previous year of walking into the school, realizing he was alone, then proceeding to cause minimal, mostly legal chaos. He hadn't gotten in trouble, but it was probably the reason the school had afterwards improved their security systems.

His sister busied himself with the text on the mobile's screen, and Lavi decided to really _look _at her since all he had been doing was avoiding her with the impeccable strategy of stubbornly refusing to leave his room. She hadn't really changed much, except for maybe a few inches gained in the height department and a few other things that one didn't point out on their own sister, but that was expected after a few years. Her hair was cut to a similar length as Ivy's, just a little past the chin, but was a seemingly impossible shade of red-orange more often reserved for cartoon characters, and, not too far off, Lavi. They even shared the same bright emerald eyes, complete with some spark that made you feel like trouble wasn't too far away; the pair that belonged to the younger sibling focusing back on their initial target after finishing the provided message.

No one would doubt that Ari Bookman was Lavi's sister.

She turned around, making Lavi think she just might go away, but instead his sister's slim frame was soon sprawled across his legs. She had decided to simply fall backwards onto the bed and her brother (much to his discomfort, though he contained the wince), arms thrown over the other side of the mattress. Her ponytail stuck out off the right side of her head, different segments going off in various curled directions, resembling a sideways version of the top of a palm tree.

"Nii-chan, I'm just _bored_," Ari whined. "I wanna play outside together. Like when we were kids." Lavi could remember that. Back then, she hadn't been as violent… Well, maybe she had, but it hadn't been on purpose (at least he hoped so). And while the whole thing sounded like fun, he didn't trust his sister with a near unlimited snow supply around him alone. Sure, it would start with snowmen and the most kick-ass snow structure ever, but that would turn into a fort from which he would be bombarded from. And while it would be an amusing battle for a while, he didn't think he could face that alone.

His hand tightened around his phone. _Maybe…_

"You know, Sis, I think I'm up to that."

Once again, not for the first and absolutely not the last time in his life, Kanda wasn't a particularly happy individual. It had been a peaceful morning, and all had seemed well, especially since school had been cancelled. It wasn't the dislike of his compulsory education that made this a good thing, but the fact that he wouldn't have to deal with a certain disliked rabbit, which shouldn't come as a surprise. He had even been considering inviting Ivy over, when his cell phone had rung. And while it was the very person he wanted to talk to, she had different plans.

He had to hand it to Lavi, though; the idiot certainly knew what he was doing. Because there was no way one redhead alone could have convinced him to leave his house for any form of stupidity. But if said redhead happened to go through a certain girl that just so happened to be Kanda's girlfriend…

That was how you ended up with situations like this: Kanda, Ivy, Allen, Lenalee, Lavi, and someone else no one there had expected to see all gathered around in the park, which was otherwise abandoned aside from the immense amounts of snow they had to wade through in order to get there.

"I'm sorry," Ivy said, being the first to break the silence, her breath immediately turning to fog and disappearing just as quickly in the winter air, "but I'm afraid I don't know you." She was clearly addressing the sixth person. She was smiling, despite the fact that she was unaccustomed to their presence and the frigid temperature. Kanda didn't get how she could do it. "I'm Ivy Minomasu. And you are?"

"Ari Bookman." A green mitten was extended forward. "Nice to meet you."

Ivy blinked before shaking the other girl's hand to shake. "'Bookman'? You're Lavi's sister?" Sure, the physical resemblance was there, but the introduction had been so different from the once she had received from the elder Bookman sibling during the previous year, it just didn't seem right. He had been completely in her face, bustling with supposed "good vibes" and "friendship ooze." Compared to that, Ari almost seemed normal.

Lavi sighed, letting the warm air gather in his bright orange scarf as opposed to losing any heat. Ivy had no idea how wrong she was…

"Yup, I am," Ari confirmed. "I was studying abroad in France the past year and a half, but it lost its fun. Besides, why would I miss Nii-chan's senior year? What kind of sister would I be if I didn't involve myself in one of the most important family events ever?" When she grinned, Ivy started to see the other form of resemblance.

"You'd be the best sister ever…" Lavi muttered under his breath, but Ari obviously didn't hear since she was now addressing Kanda.

"And Kanda-san, congratulations. It's nice to know you finally found yourself a girlfriend."

The entire group froze (if you'll excuse the horrible choice of analogy given the circumstances) at the sentence, wondering just what would happen next. Sure, Kanda had more patience for Ari than her brother, but it was still a touchy subject to get into. But after a minute of nothing happening at all, the guarded expressions turned into blank stares and a red coloring crept onto Ivy's cheeks that had absolutely nothing to do with the cold.

"Yu-pon's not denying it…" Lavi whispered. Lenalee and Allen could only stand in stunned silence. "_Yu-pon's not dying it!_" The shout was accompanied by the rabbit throwing his hands up into the air in celebration. "Let the world know that Yu Kanda finally pulled that stick out of his ass that's been there for all eternity and finally got himself a girlfriend! Oh my god, Yu-pon, I'm so fucking happy for you!"

"Touch me, you die."

For once, Lavi heeded the warning and decided to move on to a safer target: that being said girlfriend he was celebrating. "And where would we be without the magnificent Ivy-chan? You, my most incredible young lady, have performed a feat for the ages." He slung his arm around Ivy's shoulders. "How does it feel?"

"Nii-chan, knock it off; the poor girl doesn't need that you. Besides, can write it down in your diary later," Ari interrupted.

"Sis, we've talked about this!" Lavi protested in a whine. "It's not a diary, it's a _journ_—!"

"Lavi," his sister cut off once again, you can't deny it. It says 'Diary' on the cover in bold letters." The statement was accompanied by a dismissive gesture of green. "But, man, I make one comment and an entire performance explodes." She sighed before smiling again."But anyway, Allen, it's so great to see you again! How have you been?"

"I've been okay," the Brit in question answered, smiling back. He didn't particularly feel like bringing up any of Lavi's antics, just in case of Ari actually wanting to be involved. Resisting one Bookman's insistence was hard enough; resisting the combined efforts of two was practically impossible. "I assume your trip to France was good?"

"Yea, it was nice, but I like it better here. Oh, hello, Lenalee."

"Hello, Ari."

Ivy didn't know why, but she felt a sudden oncoming of foreboding, like things could go wrong in an instant if the incorrect word was said. It didn't make any sense, but she had learned to trust her instincts on most matters: if it felt like Lavi was planning something, he probably was; if something didn't seem quite right about the cafeteria food that day, best not to eat it. Trying to avoid a potential sour turn of events, Ivy said the first thing that came to mind.

"So, Lavi, you called us here for a reason, yes?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, you have been brought here for a very important reason."

Lavi had begun his speech, marching in a straight line back and forth parallel to the one he had positioned his friends in. A stick that had broken off from a nearby tree was in his hands for no other reason than he thought it made it seem like he was important. He would have liked to have engraved an American flag in the snow bank behind him for effects, but no one had the patience for that.

"This, my comrades, is a snow day. This means that we are given a blessing of sorts: A freedom to do as we please for another day, and an extremely large amount of snow to utilize during this time. And while this may not seem relevant, it most certainly is. Because today we have gained an opening to engage in what could possibly be the most epic snow battle of all time." Lavi halted in his march to look at the expressions on his friends' faces; they ranged from vaguely interested to bored as hell (Kanda of course).

"Of course, there are certain rules that need to be abided by—"

"_Free for all!_"

The call had been Ari's, and she had accented it by launching a snow ball into her brother's face, though no one knew when she had made it. Lavi was left spluttering and wiping the remains of snow from his face with no means of immediate retaliation as his attacker had already disappeared behind one of the many snow banks as a means of cover, taking Allen with her.

"That was satisfying," Kanda muttered.

"I'd say," Ivy agreed, her own grin forming as she packed together a new missile in gloved hands, making sure to compress it as much as possible. "I vote that we go into cover after this and make a fort. Build up some ammunition, too."

"After what?"

The question was barely out before the snowball left Ivy's hands, her deadly force and accuracy showing for the first time since the dodgeball match a few months ago. Right on target, the snow exploded at Lavi's bandana covered forehead, causing him to stumble back a few steps in an effort not to fall over.

"That. Now we run," Ivy remarked at the same time Lavi let out a shout of "Not cool!"

Oddly enough, Kanda felt like he could be content with the Rabbit's antics for once.

Allen really didn't know what to think of this whole mess.

Sure, Lavi wanting a snowball fight, that was to be expected. The same exact thing had occurred in previous years, though with not quite the same results. For one, Kanda hadn't been willing to comply at all and the redhead had found himself buried in a snow drift, and that had been the end of that. And well, Ivy and Kanda getting together was gonna happen eventually, idea the thought of _Kanda_ actually asking someone _to go out with him_ kinda weirded the Brit out if he thought too hard about it. But what really had caught him off guard had been the reappearance of Ari.

As you may have already guessed, most of our group had known Ari previously (alongside the obvious note of Lavi), but since she had left almost a year and a half previously, she had been prevented from meeting Ivy when the latter transferred in. But in all that time, Allen hadn't really expected Ari to come back so abruptly (though part of him had considered the thought), if at all. After all, he had heard about the Bookmen from his guardian (if you could call the drunkard that) Cross, and they weren't exactly known as the type to stay in a place for long.

And yet, Ari had returned, and here he was, part of the girl's idea of fun, otherwise known as tormenting her brother. Of course, he knew that she was only that way because she loved the redhead, but still. He didn't particularly hold any interest in completely burying Lavi in snow. Okay, maybe he did have a bit, just a _tiny_ little bit, of interest. But spending his _entire_ day off that way wasn't exactly on his to do list. But what choice did he have? The Bookman siblings were both adamant about the idea of a snow ball fight.

In much simpler terms, there was no way out of this.

"Eh? Allen-kun, is something wrong?" Ari asked, tilting her head to the side and pausing in building the snow fort she had set out to construct. Allen didn't get how this thing worked; she was actually making a _second floor_ and it was _holding_. Of course, he didn't think it would support him, but it could probably keep Ari above the ground with not too much problem. But why exactly did you need a second floor on a snow fort…?

"Um, not really…" Allen dismissed. "Just… I was wondering… Why exactly _did _you come back? Just to mess with Lavi?"

"Oh… I guess you could say that…" Ari giggled. "Of course, I also came back for—hey, did you hear that?" The younger Bookman sibling stood up from her production and brushed the accumulated snow from her pants. "Over there."

Allen looked in the direction Ari was now pointing, but all he could see were multiple snow dunes across the park and a few bare trees. Then again, both Ari and her brother both possessed slightly heightened observational skills (though how much they were used varied greatly between the two, so it wasn't improbable that she had picked up on something he hadn't.

"Snow crunching has a very easy sound to pick up on when not much else is going on," Ari commented. "Nii-chan's more than likely making his own fort and knowing Lenalee, she's either gotten roped into his team or defaulting to ref…" Green eyes turned back to Allen as their owner grinned. "That leaves Kanda-san and that Ivy-san girl, and I don't see Kanda-san participating much, let alone going for an ambush strategy. I assume you know the girl better than I do, Allen-kun; what do you think she's up to?"

Allen paused to think about just what Ivy would do in a situation like this and only two things came to mind: everything Lavi had done and exactly how dodgeball had went… "To be honest, she probably would go for an ambush style strategy," he reported after considering it. "But I don't think she'd go for us." The Brit couldn't help but chuckle when Ari once again tilted her head in confusion. "What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that she'd more than likely mount an attack against Lavi before anything else."

Allen was a bit caught off when Ari straight-out burst into a small fit of laughter. When the moment passed, she let out a happy sigh. "One after my own heart, huh?" A grin passed over the girl's face. "And getting Kanda-san in on it wouldn't be too hard; I know how much he claims to dislike Nii-chan." Another laugh broke through the air, a slight amount of fog trailing after it. Ari looked down at where Allen was still sitting on the ground, obviously confused, before she winked.

"Allen-kun, I think it's time we formed ourselves an alliance, ne?"

Meanwhile, a very oblivious Rabbit was trying to build his own fort for protection and humming as he did so.

Well, the whole humming bit was a way to block out the otherwise silence that had fallen. It was also an attempt to take his mind of the downside of the situation, that being as such that his sister, Ivy, and Kanda all seemed content with what he assumed to be his snow-filled demise. Even worse, Ari had chosen to take the Brit with her, which, when you looked at the fact of Lenalee deciding to only referee instead of join the fun, left Lavi partner-less.

Which absolutely wasn't fair! Why did _he_ need to be left alone, when three people who probably wouldn't care if he died in the process were lusting for his blood? Okay, maybe that was going too far, but still. He had at least been counting on having Brit on his side, but that plan obviously hadn't worked out. And now… Lavi could honestly say that he felt the slightest bit miffed at the moment, but that feeling was stifled by his slight concern for his life.

"Man…" Lavi mused as he completed his fort and let out a weak laugh. "This kinda blows… Wait a minute—!"

Lavi had been listening to everything for once, out of instinct for a snowball fight, and he didn't like what he heard. His sister was very much the type for the ambush maneuver, and she also knew how to prepare large amounts of ammunition in short amounts of time. In essence, you could just say that Lavi had taught Ari just a little too well. Lavi tried to keep his hopes up by thinking maybe, just maybe, Ivy and Kanda had gotten distracted by… well, other things. But that was quickly dashed by the sound of crunching snow letting him know that there was indeed a full force of four coming his way.

Lavi sighed, slumping down into the middle of his fort. At least it would provide some protection, and he knew he could count on Lenalee to save him before things went too far…

Ari's voice was unmistakable and a bit too jubilant as it shouted the command, the command being "_Attack!_"

The resultant laugh from our redhead was feeble, and his smile was grim. "I'm… gonna die…"

By the time Lenalee had finally decided that it was enough and Lavi was successfully buried under a nice pile of snow, Kanda came to the conclusion that he was allowed to leave, Ivy followed soon after, Ari climbed up to and seated herself on top of the small hill she had helped made, and Allen took pity on his friend by starting to dig him up.

Face planted in the ground, Lavi hoped to god that his sister didn't get bored again anytime soon.


End file.
